Notting Hill

Question 1

what was the rent act of 1957

Answer 1

• landlords could charge higher prices
• divide larger homes into smaller apartments
• removed controls on rent

Question 2

what were HMOs

Answer 2

• houses of multiple occupation

Question 3

who was peter rachman

Answer 3

• a polish immigrant who became incredibly skilled at finding loopholes in the rent act

Question 4

what did rachman do to force previous tenants out of his properties

Answer 4

• hiring local thugs to intimidate them with threats of violence
• encouraging tenants in adjoining flats to play loud music
• moving prostitutes into the building
• having family pets killed to send tenants a message

Question 5

why did rachman allow caribbean migrants to live

Answer 5

• despite his greed, he wanted to present himself as an immigrants helping other immigrants
• caribbean migrants were desperate for accommodation and would pay any price rachman set out

Question 6

what were shebeens

Answer 6

• illegal places where migrants could purchase alcohol as well as dance, smoke and sometimes gamble

Question 7

what was the ‘piss house’

Answer 7

• a pub that happily served caribbean and irish migrants

Question 8

name two fascist organisations

Answer 8

• union movement
• league of empire loyalists

Question 9

what did these organisations do

Answer 9

• distributed leaflets urging the white residents to protect their jobs and to stop coloured invasion

Question 10

what began the notting hill riots of 1958

Answer 10

• a white woman and her black husband were arguing
• passer bys threw slurs at the pair
• a small fight broke out between the white and black people

Question 11

recall the key events of the notting hill riots

Answer 11

• seymour manning, a young caribbean student, is confronted by a large group of white men
• manning ran back towards the station he came from and was able to escape to a local greengrocers
• the owner protected manning whilst a mob of nearly 200 were heard shouting ‘lynch him’

Question 12

how many people were arrested and charged as a result of the riots

Answer 12

• 140 people were arrested
• 108 were charged
• 2/3 of those charged were white people

Question 13

what was the aftermath of the riots

Answer 13

• court dealt with the cases and gave out fines and prison sentences
• nine youths, part of the teddy boys, were charged with wounding and actual bodily harm on a number of black men
• they were given four years of imprisonment

Question 14

who was claudia jones

Answer 14

• a leading figure among the caribbean migrants
• launched the west indian gazette

Question 15

what did claudia jones do as a result of the hostility during the riots

Answer 15

• launched a caribbean carnival committee in november 1958 to organise a cultural event that would show positive caribbean contribution

Question 16

when and where was the first caribbean carnival

Answer 16

• january 1959
• st pancras town hall

Question 17

what happened to kelso cochrane

Answer 17

• he was attacked by a group of young white men in 1959
• killed by a stab wound to his chest
• no one was ever charged with his murder

Question 18

what was the community response to cochranes murder

Answer 18

• african and caribbean activists presented an open letter of protest to the prime minister
• organised a burial committee to raise funds for his funeral

Question 19

why was cochranes funeral so important

Answer 19

• over a thousand people turned out on the streets of notting hill
• number of african and caribbean politicians attended

Question 20

what was the purpose of the west indian gazette

Answer 20

• aimed to publish national and global news for caribbean people
• published news from the caribbean and also publicised black cultural developments

Question 21

what was counterculture and when did it begin to gain popularity

Answer 21

• in the period of the 1960s
• young adults became more politically motivated and active
• young people became rebellious, expressing it in their dress, music, sexual behaviour and use of recreational drugs

Question 22

who was rhaune laslett and what did she do

Answer 22

• she worked in social care and moved to notting hill, setting up a children’s playgroup
• she joined other people to establish the london free school

Question 23

what was the london free school

Answer 23

• a project that was a part of counterculture
• older people with skills in fields like photography, film and music, to tutor young people

Question 24

what was the notting hill street festival

Answer 24

• a small street event for children
• set up by rhaune laslett in 1965
• became an annual celebration

Question 25

who was michael de freitas

Answer 25

• a mixed heritage individual
• became involved in organising small-scale prostitution and robbery before the notting hill riots
• caught the attention of rachman and became an enforcer
• his mother handled a brothel

Question 26

what did michael de freitas do in 1965

Answer 26

• met african-american activist, malcolm x, and became michael x
• converted to islam
• took a greater interest in political activities, joined guyanese activists to set up a new black political organisation
• called the racial adjustment action society (RAAS)

Question 27

how did notting hill begin to improve

Answer 27

• notting hill methodist church was transformed in 1960
• began to organise local community groups
• reverend bruce kenrick energises the mission to improve housing

Question 28

what was the notting hill housing trust (NHHT)

Answer 28

• aimed to buy up property, renovate it and rent it at a fair price

Question 29

what was the impact of the NHHT

Answer 29

• within five years, became a major presence, housing nearly 1000 people

Question 30

when was the black eagles set up and what did they do

Answer 30

• set up in 1968 by darcus howe as a protest group
• a programme of street patrols observing the police to try to protect black people from harassment

Question 31

who was frank crichlow

Answer 31

• a trinidadian immigrant
• opened the rio cafe in 1959
• became a focal point for the counterculture and community activism

Question 32

when did the mangrove open and why

Answer 32

• police and media paid unwelcome attention to the cafe
• crichlow was prosecuted several times for minor offences
• police harassment prompted the rio cafe to shut down in 1968
• crichlow opened a new restaurant called the mangrove

Question 33

why did the police still have bad relations with crichlow

Answer 33

• notting hill police believed the mangrove was a den of evil which was frequented by pimps, prostitutes, and criminals
• there were several raids and there was nothing illegal found

Question 34

what and when was the mangrove protest

Answer 34

• in 1970
• community leaders staged a protest march in august in retaliation of the police treatment of the mangrove

Question 35

who were the mangrove nine

Answer 35

• violence broke out near the end of the protest and 19 people were arrested
• of the 19, 9 were accused of serious offences

Question 36

recall the key events of the trial of the mangrove nine

Answer 36

• the trial began with a demand for an all-black jury, and it was refused
• the nine then used their right to reject over 60 of the potential jurers
• a number of witnesses spoke for the good character of crichlow and the positive atmosphere of the mangrove
• the jury decided in favour of the defendants and the mangrove nine were found not guilty of inciting a riot

Question 37

why was the trial so significant

Answer 37

• the judge stated that the events had shown evidence of racial hatred
• it was the first time anyone of authority in britain had admitted that there was a problem of racism in the police force
• the police continued to raid the mangrove, but in 1988 the metropolitan police were ordered to pay crichlow £50,000 in damages for false imprisonment, battery and malicious prosecution